MIN JAEYOUNG。

"yah! you were dozing off again!" i opened my eyes, flinching at hyori's voice.

my eyes widened in shock, looking around i noticed i was in the bakery's kitchen. "w-what? what day is it?" i blinked and scanned the place for the calendar.

hyori sighed, "it's thursday, jaeyoung. tomorrow's the ball remember! we're preparing the stuff for tomorrow."

i knitted my brows, "wasn't– aren't i... yesterday was the last day of exams right?"

hyori nodded, "yeah, did you forget?"

"what– where did i go yesterday?"

"you went straight home. miyeon took you home. it seemed like you were too shocked about the incident two days ago."

i tilted my head in confusion, "what incident?"

"the incident with prince taeyong."

my heart froze, "so that was real..." i mumbled lowly. apparently, the whole thing that happened on the last day of exams, was just a dream.

i slept after finishing my exams and miyeon brought me home... but why did i dream of something like that? was that a bluff? a message perhaps?

"oh, jaeyoung, miyeon is here!" i heard mrs kang yell from the counter and i snapped out of my trance. i walked out, meeting miyeon with a huge smile and a warm hug.

mrs kang let us talk for a bit so we decided to settle on one of the vacant seats. "how are you feeling? you were knocked out the moment you finished exams." she chuckled and sipped onto her chocolate smoothie.

"i had the weirdest dream, actually." i muttered and tapped my fingers rhythmically on the wooden table.

miyeon tilts her head to the side, "are you still traumatized from what happened a day ago? we're sorry for leaving you after that."

"no, it's fine. i'm pretty sure you did that for a reason anyways." i assured her with a small smile, my index finger drawing invisible circles on the table. "but, there was a gunshot right?"

miyeon scrunched her nose, i could easily spot how uneasy she felt. "yeah..." she sighed, hanging her head low, "there has been an attack in valfield. intruders were unknown, that was around three days ago? and then a day ago... heflorescence faced the same exact thing."

"thank hera prince taeyong was there, i wouldn't know what i'd do... i know how scared of loud gun noises you are." miyeon said, her voice slightly trembling as she reached out to hold my hand in hers.

"so, jaeyoung... what did you dream about yesterday?"

"...i dreamt of what i thought happened after the last day of exams..." i told her a bit unsure.

"oh? what happened? are you okay? you seem scared..." she stated and stood up to sit next to me. she then engulfed me in a hug, the warmth from her body reaching me.

i felt so warm. like nothing wrong was going to happen as long as miyeon was here with me.

"i was... the dream seemed so real..."

"what happened?" she repeated.

slowly, i began to tell her one by one about the certain points that happened in my dream. her mouth went agape upon hearing them, i could feel her arms around me loosen.

"jaeyoung..."

i let go of her, my confused eyes meeting her glassy ones. "miyeon?"

"the dream you had was a message."

"message?"

she nods curtly and leaned back on her chair, "i just want the best for you, okay? please, always be safe wherever you are."

"i know how kind hearted you are, but you can't keep trusting everyone you meet." she sighed and poked my cheeks, "by the way, i have your dress re—"

"miyeon!" i whined and swatted her hand away.

she bursted into a fit of laughter and that made my heart lighten. "you're going to enjoy the ball whether you like it or not." she stuck out her tongue at me.

"girls, would you like something to eat? we just finished preparing." mrs kang uttered, looking at us,

miyeon grinned, "yes mrs kang! choco buns!"

mrs kang chuckled, "alright, miyeon."

"and jaeyoung?"

i raised a brow, looking at her, "yes?"

"you should attend the ball."

my jaw dropped while miyeon let out a big loud exclaim, "yes!" she raised her fist high in happiness, beaming down at me with those bright eyes.

i chuckled, "alright, you win."

miyeon grabbed both of my hands, pulling me away from the chairs, "let's teach you how to dance!"

face twisting in horror, i almost shoved her away, "heck no!"

miyeon frowned, "come on! you need to dance!"

raising a brow, "i don't?"

"you do."

"i don't."

"you do!"

"i don't!"

"please, jaeyoung?"

pinching the bridge of my nose, i slowly gave in to ehr request. she hugged me tightly, as if she didn't want to let go of me, "thank you. i want this dance to be memorable."

mrs kang chuckled, "jaeyoung? dancing? well that's a surprise."

i puffed out my cheeks, "please don't."

miyeon help me in positioning my hands, telling me that a lady's left hand should be holding onto a man's shoulder while her right hand was in hold of the man's hand.

she made me waltz here and there with her. occasionally i would happen to step on her toe, making her yelp and i would apologize immediately. dancing was definitely not my forte and i would never dance again in my whole life.

as continued to dance, music filling our ears, bodies moving along the tunes; the bells chimed, indicating a possible costumer.

whipping my head towards the door, "the bakery is cl– ten?" my jaw dropped.

"hello..." he chuckled nervously.

miyeon stopped as soon as i did, "prince ten..." she voiced out quietly.

he bowed at us, "i see you're learning how to dance?" he said with a small smile, "i'm actually here with jisung."

i blinked a few times and see jisung outside, coming closer to the bakery and opening the door, greeting us in a small voice.

"can we join in?" ten tilts his head.

from the corner of my eye, i could see miyeon's small smirk as she lightly shoved me towards the two boys.

"please, teach her." she chuckled and took a seat.

ten nodded and grabbed my hand in his, "shall we?"

and without another word, i was pulled into another dance by ten. i was completely unknown to whatever he was doing, "relax, you're so stiff."

i scrunched my nose, "i don't dance." i blurt out my response bluntly making him laugh.

"i kind of figured."

"just let the music take you." he said and held onto my hands. to the left and to the right, finishing off as he spun me towards jisung.

jisung caught me with a smile, he looked down at me while i happened to gaze up at him.

i laughed at our height differences, "well, aren't i small?"

jisung stifled a laugh, patting my head, "you are."

i rolled my eyes, "at leas—"

"cute sized." he mumbled and bowed down, "may i have a dance with you?"

cheeks flushing red, i let my hand slip into his, slowly bowing back, "you may."

with a laugh we started dancing to a new section of the music, with ten and miyeon watching from the sidelines.

i could see mrs kang and hyori glance at us from time to time, but that was mainly it.

after the whole dancing session, i plopped my self onto a chair as mrs kang served us some newly fresh goods.

"never knew you could dance, injae."

i pouted, "i don't." giving miyeon a side-glance, "someone forced me."

miyeon stuck her tongue out at me, "you'll never regret it!"

mrs kang giggled, turning her attention towards jisung and ten. "it's nice to see you boys outside again." she patted their heads before going back in the kitchen.

"are you going to attend the ball, jaeyoung?" jisung questions at me, munching on the choco buns.

"absolutely n–"

"yes!" miyeon cuts me off.

i chuckled, "what she said." and shrugged, tying my hair up in a bun.

ten glanced at me, "i'm still sorry..."

i patted his shoulder, "i told you, it's alright."

"you're too precious," he sighed.

i scoffed lightly, "whatever~" i shake my head, "how are your brothers?"

jisung's ears perked up at my question, he craned his head towards us, "everyone in the palace is so busy right now because of the grand ball, we also need to attend with our visitors from other districts."

"then your older brothers must be doing a lot of work right now, huh?"

jisung nodded, "especially jaehyun-hyung and taeyong-hyung..." he mumbled sadly and i noticed that right away.

i should talk to them tomorrow... maybe i can lighten up their moods.

ten cleared his throat, "everyone's really worried about you, jae."

"huh? why?"

ten gave me a small smile, "because we care about you."

—

hmm, if y'all are a bit confused, the past chapter which is chap. 62, is a dream.

and what really happened on that day was due to her shock from the sudden arrival of taeyong at the restaurant and the loud gunshot, she kept overthinking why that happened, thus resulting on the third day she fell asleep as miyeon gave her a ride home.

and today, she dozed off memories of her dream flashed upon her eyes.

yEah does that make sense again?

next up is the ball :0

-jibin